Melt (Steel Brothers Saga 4)

“And he didn’t tell you who these enemies were or why they were his enemies?”

“No, he didn’t. Even though I begged him to.”

“So my father paid the ransom?” I asked.

Wendy nodded.

“Why, then, did Larry get in so much trouble from the other two by letting Talon escape? I mean, if my father paid, weren’t these guys going to let Talon go?”

“I wish I could tell you,” Wendy said. “I realize parts of this story don’t jell together. I’m only telling you what I know.”

“Larry claims he never saw any of that five million dollars. He says none of it went to him.”

“He could be telling the truth for all I know,” she said, “or he could be lying. We’ll probably never know.”

“I do remember that he was the follower of the three,” Talon said. “The other two seemed to be more in charge. I got the feeling Larry was just along for the ride.”

“It’s hard to say,” Wendy said. “The other two may have approached Larry because of his familial connection. I don’t know, and I can’t really speculate.”

“We need to get on the road soon, Wendy,” I said. “Is there anything else you should tell us? Anything you haven’t gotten into?”

“Not that I can think of right off hand. It has been twenty-five years.” She looked at Talon intently. “I’m so very glad you’re okay. Please give Jade my best.”

Talon stood. “I sure will. She speaks highly of you. Thank you for the information. If we have more questions, may we visit you again?”

She stood and pulled Talon into a hug. “Of course. Anytime. I want to do all I can to help all of you.”

She turned to me, but I held out my hand. I didn’t want to hug this woman, and I couldn’t put my finger on why. Something bothered me—something I couldn’t put into words. As I shook her hand, I said, “Thank you. We really appreciate your time.”

“It’s nothing.” She smiled at me. “I truly wish I could do more.”

“I’m sure we’ll have more questions for you.” I tried to return her smile but wasn’t sure if I succeeded. “For now, we’ll be heading out. Come on, Tal.”

She showed us to the door, and Talon and I walked to the car.

“I’ll drive,” I said. Once we were on the road, I cleared my throat. “What do you think?”

“Some of what she said made sense.”

“Are you still convinced that Nico Kostas is one of the men who abducted you?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. If these guys were enemies of Dad, I guess we have to figure out why Nico Kostas would be Dad’s enemy.”

And Tom Simpson. But I hadn’t yet told Talon of my suspicions, and now was certainly not the time.

“If Nico Kostas tried to kill Jade’s mother for a million dollars in insurance money, I guess it would make sense that he would demand a five-million-dollar ransom from some rich rancher,” I said.

“You don’t sound entirely convinced, Joe.”

Sometimes I got freaked at how well Talon could read me. “I’m not. And I’m not sure why. Most of what she said made some sense. And although I didn’t know Dad had any enemies, I certainly don’t doubt that he did. People with money tend to make enemies, even if they don’t know it. It could have been a pissed-off employee for all we know. Or a struggling rancher who didn’t get business because Dad could bid lower. So yeah, he certainly could have had enemies out there that we never knew about.”

“So what bugs you?”

“A couple of things. Things that hadn’t occurred to me before today.” Mostly because I’d been so focused on Melanie Carmichael and Tom Simpson.

“Yeah? What are those?”

“Well, the whole ‘in love’ thing. Wendy is a nice-looking woman, but she hardly seems Dad’s type. Mom was drop-dead gorgeous, on the other hand.”